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Ottawa city council has unanimously approved a plan to develop new rules for large-scale data centres, but what those rules will look like has yet to be decided.
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Council approved a motion from Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante directing city staff to develop a framework for assessing data centre proposals based on their size and potential impacts, including environmental considerations.
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The proposed framework will come back to council next year for approval.
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“This motion isn’t anti-data centre,” Plante told council, describing it as a middle ground between calls for a moratorium and an unrestricted approach to new development.
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In the meantime, staff will notify council if the city receives an application for a “hyperscale” data centre, defined by city staff as a massive facility requiring at least 50 megawatts of electricity.
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That would give councillors the opportunity to consider an interim control bylaw, which could temporarily prevent such a project from moving ahead while the city develops its new policy.
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The decision comes amid growing concern about the strain data centres could place on the city’s electricity grid.
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Hydro Ottawa CEO Bryce Conrad told council back in June that the utility was facing “extraordinary pressure” from large electricity users.
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Plante had previously told the Citizen she supported a temporary moratorium on new large-scale AI data centres and was working on a motion addressing the issue.
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Several Ontario municipalities are already considering how to handle data centre development.
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The municipal government in Oakville, Ont. recently imposed a one-year moratorium, while Toronto is studying possible new rules. Hamilton’s city council rejected a one-year moratorium in July.
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